A blog devoted to astronomy / astrophysics and space missions

Massimo Luciani

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” describes the discovery of PSR J0952-0607, the millisecond pulsar with the highest rotation speed in the galactic field. A team of researchers used the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope to investigate high-energy sources detecting this pulsar that spins at over 42,000 rotations per minute, 707 per second.

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” describes a research that revealed a surprise in the origin of electromagnetic radiation from the Crab Nebula that can influence the research on cosmic rays. Federico Fraschetti of the University of Arizona, USA, and Martin Pohl of the University of Potsdam, Germany, believe that the model created by Enrico Fermi in 1949 is to be partially revised because those radiation are produced in a way different from what was thought.

An article published in the journal “Nature” describes the first detection in the distant universe of the carbon hydride molecule, or CH+. A team led by Edith Falgarone of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Observatoire de Paris, France, used the ALMA radio telescope to discover that cold and turbulent gas in galaxies of the starburst type such as SMM J2135-0102, nicknamed Cosmic Eyelash. This discovery will help to better understand the mechanisms of galaxy growth and the periods of rapid star formation.

A few hours ago the astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer and the cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft, that landed without problems in Kazakhstan. Peggy Whitson spent more than 9 months on the International Space Station, where she arrived on November 19, 2016 as part of Expedition 50. Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin spent just over 4 months on the International Space Station, where they arrived on April 20 2017 as part of Expedition 51.

An article published in “The Astronomical Journal” describes a research in which an estimate of the presence of water on the seven planets of the star system TRAPPIST-1 is provided. A team of astronomers led by Vincent Bourrier of the Observatoire de l’Université de Genève, Switzerland, used the Hubble Space Telescope to examine that system concluding that its outer planets are more likely tyo still have a substantial amount of water. They include the three planets in the system’s habitable zone.